Chris Christie decries media ‘hysteria’

New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie decried the “hysteria” surrounding the traffic scandal troubling his administration on Wednesday, adding that he didn’t know if now-fired aide Bridget Anne Kelly acted alone and that he stands by his top appointee at the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey in the face of new scrutiny.

Christie’s comments came on his regular “Ask the Governor” radio program and were his most extensive public remarks in several weeks about the scandal and ongoing investigations, which have threatened to derail the Republican’s potential presidential ambitions in 2016.

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“I’m not going to give into the hysteria of questions that are given by folks who have information today that I didn’t have at the time that you’re talking about,” Christie told New Jersey 101.5 host Eric Scott.

He called the state legislative investigation into the scandal a distraction, but not a debilitating one, and suggested the Democratic-led probe has partisan undertones.

“Of course it distracts, but it doesn’t prevent us from doing our job,” Christie said. “But it’s an important thing to have to look into and get to the bottom of.”

“If the legislature wants to be partisan and political and block the agenda that the voters voted for in November through their governor, the only person all the voters voted for, then they’re going to have to put up with the political consequences that come along with that,” Christie added.

A spokesman for the joint panel investigating the issue did not immediately respond to a request for comment. The panel leaders have rejected suggestions of partisan motivations in the past.

Christie pointed out that he has received no questions about the traffic scandal at two recent town hall-style events he has held, saying it shows the media is more interested in the controversy than voters are. (“Questions are never screened for town halls,” said a spokesman for Christie, Kevin Roberts, in an email.)

“You folks are the only people at the moment who are asking me about this,” Christie said.

He also dismissed his declining poll numbers, saying that his support remains healthy in the state, where he easily won reelection last November.

Christie fielded several questions related to the Port Authority, the agency that runs the major George Washington Bridge at the heart of the scandal. One of Christie’s appointees to the authority, Bill Baroni, initially told state legislators that lane closures on the bridge last year were part of a traffic study. Instead, documents indicate they were part of a political payback scheme in which Christie has denied involvement.

Asked why he didn’t reach out to Baroni after he resigned from the Port Authority in December, Christie indicated that he didn’t know he needed to.

“My staff had already spoken to him about it, Eric, and he had said it was a traffic study as he testified before the legislature and as far as I know that’s still Sen. Baroni’s position,” Christie said. (Baroni is a former state senator.)

Christie said he “strongly, firmly” stands by Port Authority Chairman David Samson, whom he appointed to the agency, in the wake of comments by the agency’s executive director that Samson lacks the integrity to lead it now. Samson has come under scrutiny in recent weeks for his law firm’s dealing with public contractors. Christie characterized such disputes as common ones in a “dysfunctional” agency where control is shared by two states.

“Ultimately with some of these disputes, Gov. [Andrew] Cuomo [D-N.Y.] and I have to resolve them, and we do because Andrew Cuomo and I have a great relationship and we’ve worked extraordinarily well together over the last three years and will continue to as long as I’m governor and he’s governor,” Christie said.

The governors have denied a report that Christie called Cuomo about how aggressively the executive director of the authority, Cuomo appointee Patrick Foye, was handling the controversy after he sounded alarm bells about the lane closures last year.

Christie repeated that he didn’t speak to former deputy chief of staff Kelly when he ordered her to be fired in early January. The firing came after emails were released that showed Kelly appearing to call for “traffic problems” in a town near the bridge, where the Democratic mayor had not endorsed Christie for reelection. Her email was addressed to David Wildstein, the other Christie-appointed Port Authority official who has stepped down amid the growing controversy.

“By that time it was evident from the emails what was going on, and it was not appropriate for me to have those conversations because there [were] obviously legal consequences going on potentially for her and for others,” Christie said.

The governor said he didn’t know whether Kelly ordered the lane closures on her own. Through her legal team, Kelly has invoked her Fifth Amendment rights in response to a subpoena for documents in the state investigation.

“I have no idea, Eric, and I’m no longer going to speculate on things that I don’t know about,” Christie said. “That’s why we’re in the midst of an internal investigation and when we develop all the facts that need to be developed and have reviewed all the documents that need to be reviewed, maybe I’ll have a better view of what went on. But as we’ve talked about before, you cannot compel people to tell you things in this country. That’s everybody’s right.”

Baroni’s attorney, Michael Himmel, declined to comment on Christie’s remarks. Kelly’s attorney did not immediately respond to a request for comment.